Figure 1.--Thid boy was photographed with his family in Brest during July 1947. The family name seems to be Crier. The boy is Charlie and the girl Msy. He wears a First Communion suit consuisting of double-breasted, short pants suit with an Eton collar and white knee socks. The girl is May She is wearing May is wearing a stylish hat, suit jacket. pleated plaid skirt, and white ankle socks. Both children have white gloves. She is not doing her First Communion, but is dressed for church. Brest of course was a seaport. The portrait was sent to an American, John Frederick Hartman of Maryland. He served in the Merchant Marine Navy Reserve during World War II. After the War he apparently traveled on the Liberty ship "Fred E. Joyce". It is not clear if he mnet the family duting or after the War. Put your cursor on the image to see the back of the photo. .

French children continued to wear special outfits for First Communion after World War II. The girls still wore junior wedding dresses. The boys' outfits were more varied. We see children wearing pre-War styles for their First Communion outfits after World War II. Conditiions were very difficult immediately after the War, but First Communiion was very important. Conditions rapidly improved, especially after the Marshall Plan help stimulate the economic recovery. Increasing personal income in the 1950s allowed French families to afford smart outfots for the children. The girls wore white junior wedding dresses. The boys wore a variety of outfits including suits, sailor suits, and even formal tuxedo suits. There were also cassocks. The suits were often worn with short pants and white kneesocks. The predominately short pants styles for First Communion suits began to change in the 1950s. Short pants began to become somewwhat less common, especially by the late-1960s.

1945-50

We see children wearing pre-War styles for their First Communion outfits after World War II. Conditiions were very difficult immediately after the War, but First Communiion was very important. Conditions rapidly improved, especially after the American Marshall Plan helped stimulate the European economic recovery (1948). First Communion styles in the late 1940s were still similar to pre-War styles. We notice a range of styles being worn for First Communion. This included cassocks, Eton suits, sailor suits, and various suits. The Eton suits and sailor suits, however, seem less common than befote the War. Mostly we see boys wearing suits. Dark suits were the most commomn. We note both long and short pants suits. For many boys it was their first pair of long pants or at least their first long pants suit. We suspect a factor here is that suits could be worn for a range of occassions, unlike outfits purchased just for First Communion. The girls, however, continued to wear the junior wedding dresses that were just for First Communion.

The 1950s

The predominately short pants styles for First Communion suits began to change in the 1950s. A French reader tells us, "Beginning about 1950 the way to dress boys for First Communion changed. Until 1950, boys were commonly dressed in a a suit, often a suit bought specially for the occassion. Boys wore suits with both short or long pants. They wore a decorative bow on their left sleeve. The suit was worn during the ceremony and afterwards for parties and special occassions. Aftr World War II, the altar boy and the First communion boy could be dressed in a white alb. (The way to dress was decided by the priest of the church ). So in some cities churches, one could seen altar boy with a alb and at others churche boys wearing the traditional red cassock and surplice. The same was true with boys during First Communion. one could seen some boys at some churches wearing suits done in various styles and or at other churches boys wearing white albs." Some boys still wore very formal tuxedos or Eton suits. These more formal suits were sometimes also worn with short pants and white kneesocks. Available information on 1960s suits suggest mostly black suits. Many of the First Communion suits, while black or dark colors, were worn with white kneesocks. While many Catholic schools required boys to wear short pants, often blue shorts, with white kneesocks, most boys usually wore grey or darker colored kneesocks with short pants suits. Boys continued wearing large bows on their arms during the post-war era. The drawings shown here from the fashion magazine Thiery Sin their Spring-Summer 1956 show mostly double breasted suits. I do not think that double breasted suits were that popular in France that most suits were in that style. Perhaps the double breasted style was considered more formal and thus dominated the styles displayed. Some Catholic schools continued to have the boys dress up in identical cassocks for the First Communion ceremony. This same style was worn by Swiss boys during First Communion and it may well havebeen used in other countries as well. We have found one 1950s portrait, but unsure about the nationality. Many readers believe that it may be European, possibly French. Albs for boys Communion began to be used in the 1950s. The boys wore their albs during the chuch ceremony and then changed it for their suit with a armband during the rest of this great day.

1960s

We do not yet have much information on First Communion outfits in the 1960s. We note children wearing white cassocks in a First Communion in a small village. Both the boys and girls wore similar outfits.

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Created: 6:45 PM 7/3/2010
Last edited: 5:58 AM 6/16/2011